Section 31
"Interesting, isn't it? The Federation claims to abhor Section 31's tactics, but when they need the dirty work done, they look the other way. It's a tidy little arrangement, wouldn't you say?" ::- Odo ( ) Section 31 was the name of an officially nonexistent and clandestine rogue agency within Starfleet Intelligence that claimed to protect the security interests of Starfleet and that of the United Federation of Planets. Little information is available about the activities of the organization. One of its operatives claimed that Section 31 dealt with threats to the Federation that others did not even realize existed and that jeopardized the Federation's very survival. Section 31's actions were autonomous and its existence was neither acknowledged nor denied by Starfleet Command or the Federation governments. Those found guilty of posing a security threat to the Federation were dealt with quietly, as one of its operatives, Luther Sloan, once explained. Section 31 was not accountable to anyone; it did not submit reports to anyone or asked approval for specific operations. As such, it has been described as having granted itself the powers of "judge, jury, and executioner." Under Section 31 credo, to save lives, the ends always justified the means and its operatives were not afraid to bend the rules every once in a while if the situation warranted it. Section 31's existence was likened to that of the Obsidian Order or the Romulan Star Empire's Tal Shiar. ( ) Organization Section 31 had no physical headquarters or base of operations. A select few were chosen to carry widespread knowledge of their operations. ( ) Recruitment of new agents had to be done in secret. One method that Section 31 used to accomplish that involved kidnapping potential agents and putting them in a holodeck program without their knowledge, while secretly testing their abilities and assessing their loyalty. ( ) Section 31's recruitment policy did not allow agents to officially retire from duty, and agents who had long since moved on from the agency could be called upon at any time to carry out a mission. ( ) History Origins and 22nd Century Presence The organization's title came from the original Starfleet Charter, Article 14, Section 31, which allowed for extraordinary measures to be taken in times of extreme threat. At some point before 2151, a young Ensign Malcolm Reed was recruited by Section 31 by former Starfleet Security officer Harris. By the time Reed was posted to the , he was no longer actively involved in covert operations. However, in late 2154, when Reed was investigating the kidnapping of Doctor Phlox, he was contacted by Harris again. Harris' organization had entered into a secret agreement with Klingon Fleet Admiral Krell, in which Harris facilitated Phlox's forcible transportation to a Klingon colony to help in finding a cure for the Klingon augment virus in exchange for a mutually-beneficial alliance. Harris ordered Reed to slow down Enterprise s investigation until Phlox could develop a cure. Reed complied, but his tampering was discovered by Captain Archer and Commander T'Pol, and Reed was thrown in the brig. ( ) T'Pol reconstructed Reed's communication logs and discovered that he had been in contact with Harris. When confronted with this information, Reed confessed that he had been following Harris' orders. Later, Archer had Reed put him in contact with Harris, and Harris told Archer that, if Phlox was successful, the Klingon Empire would stabilize, which would be of great benefit to Starfleet, but Archer remained suspicious of Harris's motives. After the plague was cured, Harris contacted Reed again, but Reed rebuffed him, saying that he only answered to one commanding officer: Jonathan Archer. ( ) In 2155, Harris agreed to provide intelligence on the Earth-based Human terrorist group Terra Prime to the Enterprise crew when it was discovered that Terra Prime was attempting to disrupt the creation of the Coalition of Planets, and to drive all non-Humans out of Earth's solar system. Harris implied to Reed that this information would come at a price to be exacted at a later time. ( ). 24th century operations and the Dominion War In 2374, Section 31 attempted to recruit the genetically engineered chief medical officer of Deep Space 9, Julian Bashir, as one of their operatives. Subjecting Bashir to an elaborate deception on a holodeck designed to test his loyalty to the Federation, Section 31 operative Luther Sloan presented himself to Bashir as the Deputy Director of Starfleet Internal Affairs, and placed Bashir in a scenario wherein it appeared that he had defected to the Dominion. Eventually, Sloan became convinced of Bashir's loyalty and, citing his genetically-engineered background and fascination with spy stories, offered him a position within Section 31. Bashir ultimately declined the invitation, stating that he did not believe it was proper for an organization such as Section 31 to have such power, acting autonomously and free of any oversight. Detailing his experience with Sloan to Captain Sisko, Bashir expressed his surprise that Starfleet would have such a department. In an attempt to further investigate Sloan and Section 31, Sisko ordered Bashir to accept Sloan's invitation to join the next time Sloan made contact with him. ( ) Sloan did indeed return one year later to offer Bashir an assignment, as Bashir was preparing to attend a conference on Romulus regarding the Dominion. Sloan tasked Bashir with diagnosing the health of Koval, the chairman of the Tal Shiar. Sloan intimated to Bashir that Koval, who had been nominated for elevation to the Romulan Continuing Committee, would prove to be a liability to the Federation, due to his adamant opposition to the Federation alliance. Sloan outlined to Bashir Section 31's projections that, after the war with the Dominion was over, the Dominion would be forced back into the Gamma Quadrant, the Cardassian Empire would be occupied, and the Klingon Empire would spend the next ten years recovering, leaving only the Federation and the Romulans vying for control of the Alpha Quadrant. Working with Admiral William Ross, Bashir attempted to discover Sloan's true motives, and came to believe that Sloan intended to assassinate Koval, so that Senator Kimara Cretak would be elevated to the committee in his place, providing a voice for the Federation. Bashir soon came to realize, however, that, via an elaborate deception, he had been manipulated into seeking assistance in protecting Koval from Cretak, who broke into Koval's personal database in an attempt to discover a supposed Romulan confederate who would carry out the assassination. This act of treason on Cretak's part paved the way for Koval, who was, in actuality, working for Section 31, to have Cretak arrested and dismissed from the Senate, ensuring Koval's elevation to the seat. This would prove advantageous to Section 31, as Koval's anti-Federation stance would make his recommendation to maintain the alliance all the more convincing. When Bashir discovered that he had been deceived, he confronted Admiral Ross, whom he realized was also working with Section 31, as the deception would never have been successful without Ross's involvement. Ross attempted to defend his actions to Bashir, stating that the high cost of the war justified the extreme measures being taken, but Bashir refused to concede that the ends justified the means. Ross responded by dismissing Bashir from his office and forbidding him from acknowledging their conversation. ( ) Later that year, while researching the morphogenic virus which was ravaging the Great Link and Odo, Bashir discovered that Section 31 had actually engineered the disease and deliberately infected Odo during a visit to Starfleet Medical three years previously, in a preemptive attempt to neutralize the threat posed by the Founders and the Dominion. In an attempt to find a cure for Odo, Bashir lured Sloan to Deep Space 9 with false claims of having developed a vaccine, knowing that Sloan would arrive and attempt to destroy the research. After incapacitating Sloan, he planned to use Romulan mind probes in order to force the information out of Sloan. When Sloan realized what was happening, however, he activated a neuro-depolarizing device in an attempt to commit suicide. Bashir was able to stabilize him, but the brain damage Sloan had sustained precluded the use of the mind probes. Bashir and Chief O'Brien subsequently connected Sloan to a modified multitronic engrammatic interpreter in order to literally enter Sloan's mind and retrieve the information. Bashir was successful in his attempt, and was able to retrieve the information just before Sloan died, and cure Odo. ( ) After the cure was discovered, the Federation Council decided against sharing the cure with the Founders, an act which Odo likened to abetting genocide. Afterward, when in became clear that the Dominion was going to lose the war, Odo linked with the Female Changeling, providing her with the cure, in exchange for her ordering Dominion forces to stand down, averting a needless loss of life in an effort to inflict as many casualties as possible. The Female Changeling subsequently agreed to be taken prisoner and stand trial for war crimes, and Odo returned to the Great Link, distributing the cure to the rest of the Founders, saving his people. ( ) Known agents 22nd century * Harris * Malcolm Reed (former/potential) 24th century * Luther Sloan * Julian Bashir (potential/mole) * Koval (double agent) * William Ross (sympathizer) * Two unnamed human operatives working for Sloan ( ) Appendices Background The organization seen in "Affliction" and "Divergence" was never explicitly referred to as "Section 31", although interviews with Enterprise production staff confirm that it is intended to be the same as the organization seen on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Harris wears a leather uniform similar to the one worn by Sloan two hundred years later, and refers Captain Archer to "Article 14, Section 31" of the Starfleet Charter. This is consistent with Sloan's comment that Section 31 was created as part of the "original" Starfleet charter, but not with Bashir's statement that 31 has managed to stay hidden for "over three hundred years" in . Writer Ronald D. Moore considered this figure a mistake and stated that it should have been only around two hundred. Apocrypha There are no canonical references to Section 31 activity in the 23rd century, but the non-canonical novels published by Pocket Books posit that Section 31 was involved in the theft of the Romulan cloaking device by the USS Enterprise ( ), the development of the Omega molecule and the subsequent destruction of subspace in the Lantaru Sector ( ), and spying upon Federation civilian attorney Samuel T. Cogley ( ). Starfleet Admiral Lance Cartwright was established to be a Section 31 agent in the novel Section 31: Cloak, suggesting the possibility that the Khitomer conspiracy was, from the Federation end, a Section 31 operation. Although the televised appearances of Section 31 have been limited to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Enterprise, a short series of novels, Star Trek: Section 31, has also been published, documenting encounters with Section 31 in the other Star Trek series. These stories were largely designed around, and serve to explain or provide background to, certain canon events. In the novels it is revealed that Section 31: * had a hand in the disastrous test of the Omega molecule (see ) * had Admiral Cartwright and Cortin Zweller as agents (see , ) * placed an agent aboard the before it was transported to the Delta Quadrant in 2371 (see ) * attempted to recruit conn officer Lieutenant Hawk (see ) * was responsible for Admiral Dougherty's mission to forcibly and illegally relocate the Ba'ku (see ) * continues to regard Julian Bashir as an asset * had a hand in the events of * attempted to kill the former Borg drone Seven of Nine Section 31 is also revealed to be responsible for allowing the Dominion to engage in an infamous massacre of Federation civilians during the war as part of an attempt to recruit a potential agent. In The Good That Men Do, by Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin, Section 31 recruited Commander Charles Tucker III to enter Romulan territory. Section 31 has also appeared in the Star Trek: A Time to... series. In A Time to Kill and A Time to Heal by David Mack, it is revealed that Section 31 has a hand in a coup d'etat organized against the President of the United Federation of Planets, Min Zife, whom they assassinate. All of the ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' DVDs feature several "Easter eggs" known as "Section 31 hidden files." In Star Trek: Starfleet Command III in a mission in the Romulan campaign, the player is inspecting the damage to the Unity One starbase. While listening to the Federation-Klingon Alliance broadcasts one Starfleet officer suggests, "Why don't you ask '''Section 31'?" as to how Starfleet could know if the Unity One scans could detect cloaked Romulan vessels. After the events of the novel ''Section 31: Cloak, Captain Kirk briefed Starfleet Captains Phil Waterson and Nick Silver and Commodores Aaron Stone and José Mendez of his discoveries and suspicions about Section 31 and the five men formed the Kirk Cabal, a secret group designed to oppose Section 31 whenever it was involved in any known activity. The Kirk Cabal was still active as of 2376 when Elias Vaughn recruited Julian Bashir into its ranks. According to The Good That Men Do, the existence and activities of Section 31 were exposed to the general public by the early 25th century and its agents were eventually brought to justice for their crimes. The public release of Section 31's files and records ended over 300 years of the bureau's illegal and unsanctioned black-ops and infiltration programs. In the MMO game Star Trek Online Section 31 tests player characters on a mission in a fashion similar to that of Dr. Julian Bashir. External link * cs:Oddíl 31 de:Sektion 31 fr:Section 31 ja:セクション31 nl:Sectie 31 Category:Earth agencies Category:Agencies